Hot Off The Press John:
Cheney, others discuss Iraq on weekend news shows
By Andrea Stone, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration pressed its case Sunday for aggressive action against Iraq by offering the most detail yet that it says shows Saddam Hussein is working to develop nuclear weapons. Iraq is "actively and aggressively" trying to build a nuclear bomb, Vice President Cheney said on NBC's Meet the Press. He said Iraq was within six months of possessing a nuclear device after the 1991 Gulf War. Because United Nations arms inspectors have been excluded for the past four years, "We have to assume there is more there than we know," Cheney said.
Dick Cheney departs NBC studios after appearing on Meet the Press Sunday.
By Susan Walsh, AP
Administration officials conceded they don't know how close Saddam is to becoming a nuclear threat. "There will always be some uncertainty about how quickly he can acquire nuclear weapons," said National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice on CNN's Late Edition. "But we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."
Comments by Cheney, Rice, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld were intended to bolster Bush's case for ousting Saddam just days before his Thursday address to the U.N. General Assembly. It amounted to the most detailed case yet for why the United States wants Saddam gone:
Cheney confirmed a Sunday New York Times report that Iraq has been seeking to buy a type of aluminum tube used to enrich uranium for weapons. He said the United States had "intercepted" a shipment of the tubes but gave no details. On Friday, a U.N. agency said satellite photos of Iraq have identified new construction at several sites linked in the past to Baghdad's development of nuclear weapons.
Saddam has "stepped up his capacity" to produce and deliver biological weapons, Cheney said. In addition, Iraq has "unaccounted-for Scud missiles" capable of delivering those weapons, Rice said.
Saddam has thumbed his nose at the U.N. and kicked out its weapons inspectors, the officials said. "We can't continue to have the kind of defiance of the United Nations ... that we've had," Rice said.
Powell, who had favored a go-slow approach to Iraq, said that even if Saddam allowed U.N. weapons inspectors back into Iraq, they would be useless if the dictator was determined to thwart them. "You should have a skeptical attitude as to how much inspections can do, particularly in the presence of a regime that's going to do everything they can to hide things from inspectors," he said on Fox News Sunday.
The officials said Bush would likely ask for a congressional vote on military action before lawmakers adjourn next month. Congress plans a series of hearings later this month on Iraq.
Bush last week called the leaders of China, Russia and France to lay out his case against Saddam. But except for Britain's Tony Blair, who visited Camp David Saturday, and Israel, the United States has garnered no support for military action.
A senior U.S. official said Sunday that a debate continues within the administration on the course of action Bush will ask the U.N. to take on Iraq. One prominent option, according to the official:
>>> Ok! Here's the deal IMO, just as I suggested some time back now.The thing here is that Sadam will/may come back and ask for a time frame and/or objective's of the inspections.This will likely be denied, but may be a sticking point for the " allies " to come on board.
So it will be taken down to the wire again, with Saddam trying to pull his usual delay tactics.But this time he losses if he pushes too hard,as the fireworks will begin shortly after the deadline.Let's see what time frame is given.<<
a U.N. Security Council resolution that would require U.N. weapons inspectors to be re-admitted to Iraq within a strict time frame, or else force would be used.
Contributing: Contributing: Bill Nichols
Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
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